The Nets had enough length to somewhat slow down the red-hot Jalen Brunson, but not nearly enough weight to handle Julius Randle.
Their defense made like a sieve again in their 121-102 loss to the Knicks Wednesday night at Barclays Center as a result, following a recent trend. The Nets allowed the Knicks to shoot 46.3 percent from the field and 39.4 percent from 3-point range. The Knicks shot 25 free throws, making 20 of them.
Randle feasted all night with 26 points on 9 of 20 shooting from the field.
It came after head coach Jacque Vaughn challenged his team to be more physical following a disappointing road trip.
“[The Knicks] won that battle,” Vaughn said after the game. “For them to be able to establish themselves early in the game, that wasn’t a good sign for us, it wasn’t a good sign for our concentration level, and we paid for it.”
After appearing to turn a corner earlier this month, the Nets’ defense has reverted to its early-season woes. It was glaring during the Nets’ recent road trip, in which they went 1-4, and there was no respite back home in Brooklyn.
During the five games on the road, the Nets surrendered 123.2 points per game on 45 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent from behind the arc.
It didn’t matter who they threw at Randle — all acted as turnstiles and were bullied throughout the night.
Randle, who briefly played center when Isaiah Hartenstein and Taj Gibson were momentarily sidelined, did not hit any 3-pointers, instead abusing his smaller defenders inside.
As a team, the Knicks scored 52 points in the paint.
“We just need to be the team that punches first every night, and we’re not that team right now,” Cam Johnson said. “We haven’t been that team the past couple of games.”
Though Brunson had an uncharacteristically quiet night with 16 points, many of which came late, the Knicks’ other guards and wings torched the Nets around him.
Donte DiVincenzo enjoyed one his best days as a Knick, pouring in 23 points on 9 of 15 shooting from the field and 5 of 10 from behind the arc, his second-highest scoring total of the season.
RJ Barrett added 14 points while Immanuel Quickley scored 19.
The Nets struggled to contain the Knicks’ transition offense as well, surrendering 21 fast-break points.
“They had some guys that kind of just took off to combat our crashing for offensive rebounds,” Johnson said. “Those situations we either gotta get the offensive rebound or not let them score in transition. Or just get back and mark those guys. But that was a big emphasis for them, obviously. … I think they scored in transition too much.”